Behavior Of Young People Research Articles

Juvenile Conference Committees: Issues in assessing a diversionary court program

In 1988, the Journal of Criminal Justice published the results of David Twain's 1983–1984 process evaluation of Newark, NJ, Juvenile Conference Committees (JCCs)a volunteer-led, diversionary court program for youth misdemeanor offenders. The authors describe conspicuous inadequacies in the JCC process, in particular the lack of follow-up with juveniles about future recidivist behavior. This article discusses (1) the lack of response by the New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts to Twain's results, (2) the findings of a 1978 OJJDP report on the effectiveness of JCCs and other volunteer-run juvenile court programs, and (3) an unpublished two-year study of JCC youth recidivism in one New Jersey County. To date, there has never been a published systematic, statewide assessment of conference committees' impact on youth attitudes, behaviors, and norms. This essay proposes ways to measure JCC effectiveness in changing young people's illegal behavior.

Interventions for preventing tobacco sales to minors.

Laws restricting sales of tobacco products to minors exist in many countries, but young people may still purchase cigarettes easily. The review assesses the effects of interventions to reduce underage access to tobacco by deterring shopkeepers from making illegal sales. We searched the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction group trials register and Medline. Date of the most recent searches: July 1999. We included controlled trials and uncontrolled studies with pre- and post intervention assessment of interventions to change retailers' behaviour. The outcomes were changes in retailer compliance with legislation (assessed by test purchasing), changes in young people's smoking behaviour, and perceived ease of access to tobacco products. Studies were prescreened for relevance by one person and assessed for inclusion by two people independently. Data from included studies were extracted by one person and checked by a second. Study designs and types of intervention were heterogeneous so results were synthesised narratively, with greater weight given to controlled studies. We identified 27 studies of which 13 were controlled. Giving retailers information was less effective in reducing illegal sales than active enforcement and/or multicomponent educational strategies. No strategy achieved complete, sustained compliance. In three controlled trials, there was little effect of intervention on youth perceptions of access or prevalence of smoking. Interventions with retailers can lead to large decreases in the number of outlets selling tobacco to youths. However, few of the communities studied in this review achieved sustained levels of high compliance. This may explain why there is limited evidence for an effect of intervention on youth perception of ease of access to tobacco, and on smoking behaviour.

Going with the flow: An assessment of the relationship between young people's leisure and holiday behaviour

This study compares how young people behave while they are on vacation (i.e. holiday behaviour) and in their place of origin (i.e. leisure behaviour). Data were collected using a series of in-depth interviews and recall diaries. Comparing behaviour in the holiday and home environments provides an analysis of the relationship between tourism and leisure, which is currently a matter of debate (Colton 1987; Ryan 1994; Moore et al. 1995). Consequently, this research explores the relationship between leisure and tourism theories. The results of the study suggest that while they are on vacation the people interviewed tended to behave in a more liberal and hedonistic manner than when in their place of origin. However, this holiday behaviour seems to be an extension of their leisure behaviour, rather than separate from it. This may support the hypothesis that tourists' behaviour is influenced by a combination of socio-cultural norms and values, and personal motivations that are present in both the home and holiday environments.

Using qualitative methods to elicit young people's perspectives on their environments: some ideas for community health initiatives.

This paper describes qualitative methods used in a research project for the former Health Education Authority, exploring Putnam's concept of 'social capital' in relation to children and young people's well-being and health. Putnam's conceptualization of social capital consists of the following features: trust, reciprocal support, civic engagement, community identity and social networks, and the premise is that levels of social capital in a community have an important effect on people's well-being. Research was carried out with 102 children aged between 12 and 15 in two relatively deprived parts of a town in southeast England. The paper describes the research setting, methods, consent process and ethical issues that arose. It explores how the methods generated different forms of interconnected data, giving rise to a number of health/well-being-related themes. The paper concludes that using a range of methods, including visual methods, has helped to explore quality of life issues for children that are usually neglected in studies of young people's health-related behaviours.

Friends' Behavior, the Hedonist Lifestyle and Delinquent and Moral Behavior Two Years Later

ABSTRACT Whereas the influence of consumption of pornographic and other problematic activities on young people's delinquent involvement has been a popular concern in Hong Kong, it has not acquired rigorous and generalizable evidence from longitudinal research. With a baseline study of 2,500 randomly selected young people and a follow-up study of 1,686 of them, the present study examined the activities and delinquent and moral behavior over a period of two years. Results from structural equation modeling reveal that the activities and their composite factor, known as the hedonist lifestyle, had only weak effects on subsequent delinquent and moral behavior. The apparent contribution of the hedonist lifestyle disappeared in the model that included friends' behavior as the antecedent. Hence, friends' delinquent behavior and moral behavior were more important predictors and explained away effects of the hedonist lifestyle. These findings are consistent with the interpretation of subculture theory that focuses on the subculture and lifestyle shared among friends as a root of young people's behavior. Hence, the hedonist lifestyle is primarily a concomitant of the delinquent subculture and unlikely to be a unique predictor of delinquent behavior.

An analysis of the qualitative factors which influence young people's acceptance of orthodontic care.

The qualitative data volunteered as responses to open questions in a self-administered questionnaire study were analysed to identify the psychological factors influencing young people's behaviour in relation to orthodontic care and to gain an understanding of the psychological factors which influence adolescents' acceptance of orthodontic care. The study was conducted in all Walsall and Dudley secondary schools. The responses of the young people who were in year 10 of education with an average age of 15.0 years demonstrated the importance of personal constructs, peer group and media influences, parental influences, conflicting messages, teasing, symptom perception, appearance and self-image, and interpersonal relationships in determining whether or not young people either seek and accept or reject orthodontic treatment. The study concluded that it is essential that clinicians involve patients fully and honestly in discussions concerning their orthodontic therapy in order to enable them to make a considered consent.

Towards a Sociological Understanding of Youth and their Risk-taking

This paper critically examines recent explanations of youth and their risk-taking. Literature in this area has traditionally been dominated by psycho-dynamic explanations of social action in which risk-taking is claimed to have linkages to biological and psychological developments in 'adolescence'. While more recent writers in the disciplines of psychology have aimed to distance themselves from deterministic positions, more recent discourses on youth risk-taking have remained grounded in a series of assumptions about the meaning of adolescence and transition that still see biology and psychology as key influences to behaviour. Alternative critical approaches exist within sociology and anthropology that provide an opportunity to develop a fuller understanding of the diverse and complex social processes that influence young people's behaviour in risk-taking. To conclude, this paper identifies gaps in our sociological understanding of youth and risk-taking, and highlights areas of further research.

Parents' perceptions of a school-based prevention education program.

There are few studies of parents' views about prevention education in general, or about specific prevention education activities. Yet, their perceptions are important because families are a primary socialization source, and because parents' opinions can either reinforce or countermand the message of prevention education programs. This article is an analysis of parents' views of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program based on a statewide survey of adults from rural, suburban, and urban communities who had a child participate in the program within the past year. Parent involvement and knowledge of D.A.R.E. was high. Generally, parents were very positive about D.A.R.E., especially when they viewed the D.A.R.E. officer as an effective educator. This article suggests that much more research on parents' views and support of prevention education program needs to be conducted, especially within the context of how their perceptions may mediate the influence of the prevention effort on young people's attitudes and behaviors about substance use.

Group care in Northern Ireland: A survey of residents problems

Despite its troubled history, residential care continues to play a much needed role in the child care continuum. A key issue, however, is the apparent lack of agreement over the practice knowledge required to guide practitioners in their day to day work with young people. This article begins to address this issue by outlining the findings of a small quantitative study of young people's presenting behaviours and problems in children's homes in the greater Belfast area in Northern Ireland. The findings indicate a high prevalence of emotional, social and behavioural difficulties among the young people. The implications of these findings for social work practice are discussed with reference to three areas: perspectives on practice; models of intervention; and the development of explanatory theory

Physical Activity Promotion in Schools ‐‐ PE Teachers’ Views

This paper aims to establish PE teachers’ views and understanding of physical activity promotion. The paper presents selected findings from a larger scale research project which investigated physical activity promotion within a whole school context. Questionnaires were completed by 42 secondary school PE Heads of Department (PEHoDs) and follow‐up interviews were conducted with a smaller sample (n=9). PEHoDs were generally found to have positive views towards physical activity promotion in schools and most spoke of promoting it through their curricular and extra‐curricular PE programmes. Despite this, a number demonstrated a rather limited understanding of physical activity promotion and how it could be approached in their school. It was concluded that, if PE teachers are to have a real impact on young people's physical activity behaviour, they need to be encouraged and supported to adopt a broader view and understanding of physical activity promotion and of their role within it.

Sin beyond Surfers? Young people's risky behaviour during Schoolies Week in three Queensland regions

AbstractThe present study investigated substance use and interpersonal conflict within the previous 24 hours of young people celebrating Schoolies Week in the Queensland Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast or Wide Bay regions. Questionnaires were completed by 291 males and 367 females, who were predominantly 17 or 18 years old and Queensland residents. Participants engaged in very high levels of drinking, marijuana and ecstasy use in comparison to relevant population statistics. Males were heavier marijuana users and drinkers than were females, and suffered more negative consequences of drinking. They also experienced more interpersonal conflict, although females were more likely to report being sexually harassed. Behaviour was riskier at the Gold Coast than elsewhere, with males within regions engaging in riskier behaviour. Drinkers were more likely to report using marijuana and alcohol, and suffering from the consequences of alcohol, than were non‐drinkers. The data suggest that harm minimization interventions targeted at Schoolies Week participants are needed in all areas in which Schoolies Week are celebrated, although there is a particular need at the Gold Coast. These data also suggest that current interventions may be inadequate in preventing harm to participants, and may need to focus on participants' expectations of the consequences of celebrations.

The Impact of Parental Pressure for Grandchildren on Young People's Entry into Cohabitation and Marriage

This paper examines the influence of parental preferences for grandchildren on young adults' entry into cohabitation and marriage. We also consider the influence of young adults' own fertility preferences on their cohabitation and marriage behaviour. We develop a theoretical framework explaining why these childbearing attitudes influence young people's cohabitation and marriage behaviour. The results show that the childbearing preferences of young women and their mothers affect their choice between cohabitation and marriage, so that wanting many children increases the likelihood of choosing marriage. Young men whose mothers want them to have many children enter any type of co-residential union, either marriage or cohabitation, at a much higher rate than men whose mothers want them to have fewer children. Our results also provide insights into the childbearing behaviour of cohabitating couples.

Employers’ workforce formation practices, young people's employment opportunities and labour market behaviour in post‐communist Poland

(1997). Employers’ workforce formation practices, young people's employment opportunities and labour market behaviour in post‐communist Poland. Communist Economies and Economic Transformation: Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 87-99.

Decoding the image—consumption, young people, magazines and smoking. An exploration of theoretical and methodological issues

The concern that young people may be influenced by magazine images of smoking can be traced to cultural developments which have characterized the latter part of the 20th century, where the production and consumption of image is merely one facet in a transformation which has altered the way life is lived, perceived and experienced. These developments have been termed 'late' or 'post' modernism. This paper develops a theoretical explanation of the use of cigarettes in magazine fashion spreads in the context of these wider cultural changes. The rise of consumption as a means to establish selfidentity will be discussed, as will its dependence on the marketing of image. The paper relates this to the growth of youth and style magazines, and their increasing use of smoking to emphasize particular moods and images, these being created to exploit certain mythologies which young people identify with and aspire to. Three ways in which images of smoking could influence young people's smoking behaviour are identified. The second part of the paper discusses some key theoretical questions and methodological issues that need to be considered when researching the semiotics of smoking, and describes the ways in which the authors attempted to address these concerns in a study

Social Factors Influencing Sport and Violence: On the "Problem" of Football Hooliganism in Germany

On the basis of the discussion of the everyday lives, violent behavior of hooligans is interpreted as young people's cries for help to society to provide meaning and a future, as survival strategies, a way of getting by in a society which provides scarcely any scope for self-affirmation. Young people's bizarre or violent behavior is a pointer to underlying inequalities, forms of coercion and exaggerated discipline, and its 'positive function' as information must be decodes, taken seriously and, where possible, translated into action by (local) authorities, before these is a rush to treat this behavior exclusively as law-and-order problem. Repressive as well as socio-pedagogical measures do not solve the problem of Hooligans if they aren't imbedded into structural measures improving the everyday lives of young people effectively. Thus Hooligan behavior can be interpreted as "normal" and Hooligans as the "avantgarde" of a new type of identity. As long there are no real changes at the structural level, the possibilities for reducing violence are limited. Hooliganism seem to be the risk of modernization, commercialization and professionalization of sport and society.

The social image of smoking among young people in Scotland

This study aimed to gain an understanding of the contemporary images of smoking held by young people, the sources of such images, and their relationship to young people's social groupings and smoking behaviour. It involved an in-depth qualitative investigation using focus groups to elicit young people's ideas, attitudes and experiences of smoking. A total of 234 people from three age groups (11–12, 13–15 and 16–20 years) participated in the study. Cigarette smoking was found to be predominantly a social and group activity. It was also a behaviour about which young people often held ambivalent and contradictory attitudes, e.g. expressing both positive and negative images irrespective of whether or not they smoked. For many smokers, smoking was part of their social and cultural worlds, e.g. in their group activities, or the focus of specific concerns such as weight loss. Smokers often seemed to view their own behaviour and that of others differently. The research has implications for health promotion, particularly the need to understand and address the meanings that young people attach to their behaviours, and acknowledge the ambivalence and contradictions in their attitudes.

Drug talk in context: the relationship between situation and performance in the expression and reception of drug‐related knowledge

This paper seeks to explicate the principles regulating pupil talk in relation to drug use in three disctinct contexts within mainstream education : the formal lesson, the off-stage lesson and group interviews outside the lesson. Data are drawn from interviews and observations which were part of a broader study of young people's knowledge, behavior and attitudes in relation to drug use. The findings are set within a discussion of the relationship between situation, or context, and performance and the assumptions that are made within the classroom of pupils' competence or lack of competence

Models of parenting: implications for adolescent well-being within different types of family contexts

The paper sets out to consider models of parenting and parent-child relationships in early to middle adolescence. The principal concern is to examine the implications of various approaches to parenting for adolescent functioning, including school integration and psychological well-being. Particular emphasis is given to locating parenting styles and their impact on young people within a wider social context, including the composition and the socio-economic circumstances of the family. The analysis is based on data drawn from a longitudinal study of adolescent socialization (the Young People's Leisure and Lifestyles project), and replicates, with a U.K. sample, studies in the U.S. by Lamborn et al. (1991) and Maccoby and Martin (1983). The results identify four distinct types of parenting style characterized by different degrees of acceptance and control of young people's behaviour. Permissive parenting styles predominate in the sample. However, the most effective style (judged against measures of school integration and mental well-being) is an authoritative one which is characterized by raised levels of both acceptance and control. Within a minority of families there are significant problems with adolescent—parent relations. These parent-child interactions are associated with low levels of acceptance and control, with school disaffection and with poor psychological outcomes for the young people involved.

School policy in COMMIT: a promising strategy to reduce smoking by youth.

Organizational smoking policy has been identified as a potentially effective way to influence health behavior, particularly in worksites. Examining the elements of existing school smoking policies for both students and employees can provide insight into the potential effectiveness of these policies in changing young people's smoking behavior. This paper examines selected components of existing school smoking policies in a national sample of schools at all levels of education as part of the Community Intervention Trial for Smoking Cessation. Schools were questioned about their school smoking policies, related resources, and compliance. The data show much variation in the elements of school tobacco use policy to change smoking behavior. Existing policies in schools differ among grade levels, thus providing different messages about the appropriateness of smoking. Policies differ for students and adults, providing another opportunity for confusion about the messages that policy can deliver. In general, resources available to support existing policies are lacking. Many schools offer classes on knowledge of negative health effects of smoking but do not teach the psychosocial skills necessary to resist tobacco use. In its present forms, school policy has great potential for an effective tool for health promotion, but considerable reform is needed to overcome current barriers.

Towards a Strategic Approach to Housing Behaviour: A Study of Young People's Housing Strategies in South-East England

A model is advanced of young people's housing behaviour as resulting from strategies regarding household type, child-bearing, work, expenditure and family help, which in turn are partly a response to housing constraints. The model is applied to a sample of 724 young people in South-East England and it is shown that between 3 per cent and 34 per cent of young people had adopted particular strategies in the previous year in response to housing constraints. Strategic behaviour was not limited to any single social category, but the first four types of strategy were more likely among households with manual or part-time workers; younger, unmarried people were more likely to put up with awkward household arrangements; and older, married people and owner-occupiers were more likely to adopt expenditure-related strategies and to defer having children. This approach rejects the view that housing decisions are made by pre-existing households with given characteristics. Rather, household structure and resource levels result from strategies, and housing decisions involve trade-offs between aspirations and the acceptance of sacrifice and dependency - features which are ignored by measures of `ability to pay' such as affordability.